Lost Liverpool shop that helped launch city's famous stars

It had a long list of famous customers.Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr shows his son Jason some of his old haunts in 1992(Image: Mirrorpix)

A lost Liverpool music store that’s been closed for 30 years helped launch the careers of so many Liverpool stars. For decades, aspiring artists and music lovers would head to Hessy’s to buy their first instruments, new equipment and more.

The famous name was founded by Frank Hessy and began its life as a number of record stores across the city – but many will remember Hessy’s Music Centre on Stanley Street on the corner of Whitechapel in particular. By the 1960s, Hessy’s was playing a key role in the Merseybeat scene by providing youngsters like John Lennon with the chance to buy instruments.

It operated a credit and easy payment scheme which meant that the young Beatles and bands like Gerry and the Pacemakers could afford to buy their instruments. Other stars who got their instruments from Hessy’s included 70s band Hot Chocolate, Orchestral Manoeruvres in the Dark, Paul Hardcastle.

Liverpool comedians Jimmy Tarbuck and Freddie Starr were also among the list of famous customers. A main supplier of musical instruments to performers across the city, it was the place many got their first instrument before going on to perform around the globe.

One image, courtesy of our archive Mirrorpix, is a window into the past. It shows Beatle Ringo Starr and his son Jason outside Hessy’s.

Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr shows his son Jason some of his old haunts as they strolled down Mathew Street in central Liverpool. September 30, 1992.(Image: Mirrorpix)

But on July 5, 1995, it was announced that the historic Liverpool music store was to shut shop after 61 years in the city. At the time, the Liverpool ECHO reported how the Stanley Street store is closing because of redevelopment of the building in the heart of the Cavern Quarter.

The article reads: “Directors stressed it is still a healthy business but that they have not found a suitable alternative site in the city centre. Sales director Peter Hepworth said they were not ruling out the possibility of opening at a new location at a later date.

“He added that they were also considering looking at expanding the mail order side of the business.” Mr Hepworth previously said: “It is very sad in many ways.

“But for the time being we have not been able to find anywhere else right for Hessy’s in the city centre.” The following month, Hessy’s closed its doors – but when its closure was announced, many buskers headed outside the shop to perform and pay their own tribute.

Mr Hepworth said: “The reaction from customers has been absolutely fantastic. They have given us great support, as they have over the years, and it will be a very sad day tomorrow.

“We have had many customers, suppliers and manufacturers in touch to say how sorry they are.” On August 5, 1995, the store closed its doors for good.

Musicians outside Hessy's Music Centre in 1995 on the last day of the store on Stanley Street Musicians outside Hessy’s Music Centre in 1995 on the last day of the store(Image: BRITISH NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE/LIVERPOOL ECHO)

A crowd of Merseybeat stars performed outside to say “thanks to the place where youngsters were able to buy instruments on credit.” Decades on from when Hessy’s was at the heart of the city, many continue to share their fond memories of the store which in many cases was where musicians bought their first instruments.

Liverpool’s first all-girl rock ’n’ roll group The Liverbirds came together following an article in the Mersey Beat newspaper and from there, they went on to perform at The Cavern, Hamburg’s Star Club and venues across the globe. Bassist Mary McGlory previously told the ECHO: “I was in The Cavern one day with three of my cousins and The Beatles were playing.

“We were sitting in one of the front rows and we just looked at each other and said let’s do that. Not one of us could play an instrument – but we didn’t care. We just thought we’ll sit down and practice and asked one of the other groups that were on that night where they bought guitars and it was Frank Hessy’s which was just around the corner from The Cavern.

“We just went there the next day and bought them on hire purchase of course – we were only 16 so we needed our parents permission to do us.” Geoff Windham formed band Marital Aids in the late 1970s and was among the musicians from the city and beyond who found themselves performing at the famous Eric’s Club, the Masonic pub and more.

Like many local musicians at the time, Geoff also invested in proper equipment and headed to one of Liverpool’s most famous music stores to buy it. Geoff previously told the ECHO: “There was a well known music shop in Liverpool that sold guitars and amplifiers called Frank Hessy – everybody called it Hessy’s and it was on Stanley Street in Liverpool.

“All the Liverpool bands bought their gear there and The Beatles were supposed to have gotten all their gear there. I went there and bought myself a 1960s black Stratocaster.

“A few weeks later I bought the amp that all the Liverpool bands used, that The Beatles used, a Vox AC30. I was very proud that was my gear.”

Many still have instruments and equipment from Hessy’s and through the years, a number of items tied to famous artists from the lost store have went to auction. In 2009, one of John Lennon’s earliest guitars sold for more than £205,000 at a pop memorabilia auction.

His 1958 acoustic Hofner Senator, bought at Hessy’s Music store in Liverpool, was used to compose songs rather than play at gigs. An accompanying letter from Beatles bandmate George Harrison confirmed it was one of Lennon’s earliest guitars, dating from the early 1960s.

Last November, a guitar bought by George Harrison for about £58 also sold at auction for more than £1 million. The Futurama electric guitar was bought by The Beatles star when he was a 16-year-old apprentice electrician in 1959 and was paid for in 44 instalments after his mother signed a hire purchase agreement at Frank Hessy’s music shop in Liverpool.

This week marks 30 years since Hessy’s closure. But it still lives on not only through the instruments and equipment bought there that still exists, but the memories and music made by all who shopped there.

Lost Liverpool shop that helped launch city’s famous stars

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